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September 2007
The foundation of brand
building is linked to the experiences held by consumers from
the first time they are exposed to an ad to their tenth
purchase and beyond. Continuity is vital at every stage of
this process. As discussed last month, Continuity helps
build relationships from touch point to touch point.
Quite simply, some firms
do not value continuity. At least they do not reflect it in
their marketing programs. Rather, they live from idea to
idea and hope that the consumer follows along, making the
link between their firm and each idea.
For example, one month it
might be a humorous ad using a foam finger to tell the world
your credit union is number one. The next month might
involve a turtle relaxing on the beach after securing a
vacation loan from said credit union; while in the third
month it's a spokesperson discussing the negatives of banks
and the positive side of the credit union world. Three
months...three different ideas...very little
continuity...very little brand equity built and results that
are almost assuredly disappointing at best. Don't get me
wrong, ideas that generate creative advertising are great.
However, this is often one reason that we all hear "water
cooler talk" where Bob or Bonnie describe this or that funny
ad, but when asked who the ad was for, Bob and Bonnie are
baffled. Of course, this occurs in brand-oriented
advertising at times as well, but to a much lesser extent.
For the most part, brand-centered advertising is like
Exhibit A below.
In Exhibit A, we see a
consistent marketing message flowing between consumer and
company. Opposed to the above example, we do not see three
different creative concepts over the span of three months.
Rather, we see one creative concept tweaked three
times--each containing similar branding elements to ensure
the building of brand identity and relationship with the
consumer. This is the shortest route to building strong
brand identity. While still a long path, Exhibit A clearly
shows the shortest distance between two destinations is
still a straight line. The same cannot be said for Exhibit
B.
In Exhibit B, we see a
longer, choppier road. In this path, we see inconsistent
messages with just enough communication continuity to keep
the consumer on the right road. However, the path is
constantly being disrupted. Further, the learning curve,
often very necessary in educating consumers, is also marked
with disturbance and incongruities. Here, there is just
enough continuity to build the brand...eventually. But such
a distinct lack of continuity makes for a longer path with
the possibility of losing many prospects along the way.
Unfortunately in Exhibit
C, the brand is never really established. Rather, the
company lives from unique idea to unique idea--all of which
may sell a little here or there, but never really connect
wholly to the consumer. One example of this is a local
company, which has been in existence for decades but has
garnered little awareness and even less brand equity. The
business has simply lived from one brainstorm to the next
with the strategic mindset that "this is what advertising
and marketing is all about...one completely new idea after
another!" Unfortunately, with each new concept they seem to
be attempting to make new inroads with the same target
audience. In other words, they never really "stand for"
anything in the mind of the consumer because the consumer,
who is bombarded by thousands of messages each week, only
begins to grasp the company's new concept just as it has
moved on to the next. With that, we see lackluster sales
figures short-term, with spikes here and there, but no brand
identity long-term and little to no brand equity.
Continuity will always be a key component of the
brand-building process. It will often expedite the branding
of your company. Yes, it requires discipline because you
will quickly become quite sick of seeing the same marketing
messages repeatedly. I get quite tired of producing the same
thematic messages with the same brand elements, week after
week after week. But just when I can't take any
more and want to create something new for a change of pace, I realize two things: 1) Just as I am
getting sick of the same messages, the consumer
is just beginning to grasp them; and 2) The shortest
distance between two points will always be that straight
line.
© BrandVision Marketing.
2007. Matthew Scott Trueblood. All rights reserved.
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